The Warriors of the Tri-Ringed Fort
by TheReasonforYourNightmares
Summary: Once the Celts reclaimed their homes from the Roman empire, it was a time of celebration. Shortly after, the titans appeared. As hard as they fought, their lands were swarmed and the proud Celts were forced to leave and hide behind the walls. They swore to one day reclaim their lands from the Titans. A 100 years later their warriors still fight for this dream. This is their story.
1. The Village of the Sacred Tree: Finna

The Tales of the Tri-ringed Fort

Story written By Anon

And edited and co written by Reason

A few things you need to know before reading this fan-fic. I have made some assumptions and there are some things you need to know.

1. This fan-fiction will have an assortment of original characters. However, it is the same AOT story we know and love but told through their eyes. They do not change any major events, roles, or deaths in the series. If you don't like it, don't read. Though all the original characters are named and heavily based on Celtic gods or heroes, they are not these gods. Therefore, there will be no plot twist with them being a titan shifter, god or demi-god.

2. This story has a huge Celtic influence. It is based on how Anon thinks Celtic warrior and druid culture would have evolved in the walls and how it would be perceived, how others would react to it and how the AOT world would be with it in it. That is one of the big reasons, if not the main reason, Anon deiced to write this story. This story is just as much about Celtic culture as it is AOT. Anon feels that the Celtics get this bad reputation as these barbarous, stupid, and uncivilized people, which is not true. The Romans and Catholic priests (who are our main source of primary written sources about them. have portrayed them as such. The Celtic people were an extremely divvied people with a similar culture. So creating a pan Celtic culture is hard, so something might be off. So, if you're not interested, don't read.

3. The walls are somewhere on the European mainland (Possibility modern day Germany or Denmark).

4. The titans appeared roughly after or before the fall of Rome. After the wall was erected something similar to the scientific revolution and enlightenment happened within the wall.

5. They had no contact with the Americas despite having things like potatoes. (Fun fact: potatoes originally came from the Andes mountains. Not native to Europe. )

6. This story assumes you are up to at least chapter 51 in the manga and that you have watched the anime. Anon loves to use dramatic irony. If you are not up to date you will miss a lot of it and have a lot of spoilers.

7. There will be pairings in this reading. Do not like the pairing(s) do not read. We will not change based on comment

8. When something is italicized and in quotations, it is being spoken in Gallic.

9. Hope you enjoy. We have a lot of fun writing it, devolving the OCs , and expanding and speculating on the world of SNK.

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Chapter one: The Village of the Sacred Tree; Finna.

_The Celts are descended from the warrior and druid Celtic upper class that migrated to the main land from the British Isles and other parts of Gaul. They are most noted for the military power. Most reside in all Celtic villages in Wall Maria. Due to there kind treatment to the recon corps many Celtic villages have recon bases just outside of them. Usually their Celtic knots, flashy clothing, accents, and tattoos identify them. They are seen as heretics and a threat to the public peace. Most people only contact with Celts are when they hire them to take care of bandits or bounties. All Celts from the age of 5-12 are taught: to read and write Gaelic and common, use of a short, medium and or long-range weapon of their choice, warrior morals, Celtic pre-wall history, nature (its use and respect for it), Celtic culture and religion, and basic military strategy. Teachings are done by the village druid and or bard. _

Year 842 Bridget:

I woke as the morning sun's rays hit my face. I rolled over to see my older brother, Ogma, in his bed across the room. I quietly slipped out of bed and crept over to see if he was awake. His light chestnut hair was the only thing I could see of him. His blanket covered his face. I let out a grin. Today was the first day I could start doing stuff for my self. Since Ogma was going into the training core today, he could not baby me over every stupid thing any more. Usually he woke up before me so now was my chance. I hurried over to the dresser. I did not have weapon practice today so I could wear a dress. I picked out the red one Margwase had made for me. I ran my fingers over the intrinsic embroidery at the bottom. Margwase was like an aunt to me, she was a really good tailor and good a housekeeper to boot. Margwase said she would teach me to sew sometime. That would be nice. That way any time I had ripped my clothes I did not have to go to her to fix them. I started to put over my head but I soon felt to being taken off a new one being put on.

"_You should wear this nice green dress I bought you it goes with your eyes_." Ogma said. Although I did like the deep green color but I felt it looked too plain and the cut was strange. Ogma had always dressed plainly. It was very strange to me. Other the telling of legends he had no apparition for art. He was donning his plain black tunic as I ran out to the kitchen to make breakfast before he could.

I quickly took out the pan and threw some logs into the stove. I got the beans and ran to the cold room were meat was store to grab some sausage. I turn around only to see Ogma using some flint and steel to start the fire.

"_I wanted to do it"_ I angrily puffed. He turned to face me and sighed. _"Fire is dangerous, and besides you are a terrible cook. Now give me those and I will make breakfast for you__.__"_ He said as he held out his hand. How was I supposed to get any better if he would not let me try to improve? No one else did this, not Druid Finn, not Lugh, not Taranis, not Mother, not anyone. It seemed to him the simplest of task was too difficult for me to handle. Always doing them for me even when I told him I could and wanted to do it on my own. Ogma clearly saw me as a weakling and it irked me to no end. I knew I was not weak. Druid Finn said I was one of his best students. No one had picked up the use of weapons as quickly as I had in his entire years of teaching and he was really old so he had to have taught a lot of people. In 2 years of training I had mastered javelins and Druid Finn said that if I was diligent I could master the spear in a year. Why did he always see me as weak? I clenched the sausage and beans close to my body. "_No_" I shouted defiantly. Ogma closed his light brown eyes and took a deep sigh.

"_Bridget I am not going to argue this with you just let me cook breakfast."_ I clenched them harder

"_NO!_" I shouted. He started to walk towards me. I dashed toward the stove, but before I got there he picked me up. I flailed defiantly.

I heard the door to Mother's room creak open. "_The sun has just risen what is with all the ruckus._" She said groggily rubbing her storm grey eyes. Mom's long raven black hair was disheveled. She was wearing nothing but a white button down shirt that showed the triple spiral tattoo in the middle of her collarbone and light gray panties that allowed me to see the Dara knot on her outer upper left thigh. She pulled out a chair and sat down.

"_Good morning Morgan_" my brother said.

"_Good morning Mom_" I said gleefully. Rubbing her eyes she looked at us.

"_Ogma, let her cook; She cannot get any better if she does not practice. She is not a toddler any more she needs to learn to do stuff on her own. If you keep babying her she will become weak."_

Ogma protested, _"Yes because 8 years old should definitely be dealing with fire"_ She simply gave him an evil glare. Ogma shuttered. Knowing better then to argue with Mom past this point, he begrudgingly took a book out of his packed bag and sat down. He crossed his legs having the bottom of his boot at the cuff of the other as he cracked open his book.

Once I was done I served it to Mother and Ogma. Mom commented that the beans were overcooked but the sausage came out fine. I tried to make conversation "_So Ogma what core are you going to join after graduation?_"

Ogma refused to look away from his book for anything. "_Don't know maybe the Garrison._"

After swallowing her last bite of beans Mom commented, "_you know when he was younger Mr. Frowner here wanted to join the recon core._"

"_Like Mom!_" I commented happily. He stood up and said he was going to see his friend in the nearby outsider's town and walked away.

Mom simply said _"Like Dagda, sweetie_" with a sad tone in her voice. Mom was part of the recon corps and apparently father was too. Mom never talked about him and Ogma would not stop going on about him. He died before I was born but, apparently he had copper hair too and he sounded kind and goofy. Dagda's death must of rattle Ogma a lot. I do not see what he found so interesting about the outsiders town. The only cool thing about it is it was right next to the wall, but they would not even let you get on the wall and if you were clever enough to get on the wall they would simply put you back on the ground. The fortress walls were disappointing. They were not very well fortified at all. All the fort seemed to have going for it was the walls' height, the triple ring layout and the fact it was made of stone. There was no trenches or motes or any other kind of fortification. Who ever built the fortress did a slapstick job. Druid Finn said I shouldn't be to hard on them they did have to build it in a hurry under less then ideal circumstances. It surely was not as impressive as the ones in the stories Ogma read to me when I was younger and considering humanity has had 100 or so years to better fortify the only thing standing between us and titans, you think they would have jumped on that by now.

Mom broke my line of thought by saying that Lugh and Taranis would be helping their father with an order of spurs and that Druid Finn had some business to attend to so I did not have classes today. I was about to leave but mom stopped me put a dagger in my I was not allowed to leave the house unless I was armed. Mom was very strict on that. I wanted to practice with the spear but, I was not allowed to train with weapons unsupervised; not after what happened last time, so I guess I could study healing and go pick some flowers for the solders' rooms. They liked to see something pretty in their rooms especially if they were bed ridden from an injury. Sometimes I would make crowns or bracelets for them, which they smiled at. I was trying to think whom I should invite. I went to the stable " _Hello Mrs. Moo would like to come with me to pick flowers today._" She looked up from her breakfast and mooed. Mrs. Moo Moo was not very good a picking flowers. She mostly ate them but she was a good listener and did not trot away like the horses. They were cool for more athletic activities.

We walked to the edge of the village. I picked mostly field flowers and tried to remember what each plant did. When I felt I had picked enough I decided to head back home. Mrs. Moo Moo's barn was on the opposite side of the island where the bridge was. Once in the middle of the village I saw the tree of knowledge and stopped to stare. It is a beautiful hazelnut tree in the middle a small pond with river fish swimming around the tree's root system. It was the idol of the village of Finna and the pride of the village "_Isn't it beautiful Mrs. Moo Moo _" I asked. I noticed two kids my age at the edge of the lake. I found it strange. Considering I had lived here my entire life, I think I would have noticed if there were kids my age in the village. As far as I knew I was the only Celt my age in the southern part of the first ring. The shorter one had one of the taken a fish from the lake. The taller one had taken a small wooden arm that was in the lake.

"What do think this is? " He asked the shorter one.

"I don't know but, you should keep it." The shorter one replied. I soon realized that they were outsiders . No Celt would ever commit the blasphemous act of taking an idol from the pond. The taller one put it in his pocket. I could not watch this blasphemy any longer.

"Put that back! He won't heal properly if you take it out!" I shouted at them as I rushed at full speed toward them. Throwing my basket to the ground. The taller one looked at my necklace, a witch's knot.

"It is a Celt! Run!" The shorter one dropped the fish and it flopped back into the lake. They ran towards the village and I was close behind them. They ran between two teenagers talking about the interiorer and how some mother wasn't able to take care of her daughter. I quickly rushed in between them making sure to not lose sight of the ones I was pursuing. The two boys ran into an alleyway. I let out a small smirk .I knew how to cut them off. As usual there was a stack of boxes that could be climbed up on so one could get to the roof. I climb up on to the roof and jumped down on the taller boy. The shorter one screamed and abandons his friend.

"You blasphemous bastard, give that back, the water will not heal him if the idol is not in the lake." I said as I kept punching his head repeatedly.

"Why should I worry about being blasphemous to a heretic?" He shouted back. That was the last straw I was going to give him one punch with all my strength to his mouth. I imagine punching the earth right behind his head and then I felt my self being picked up.

"Bridget calm down!" My brother ordered as he bear hugged me so I could not punch or kick him or the boy. I bite down on my brother's arm as hard as I could. Ogma winced and told his friend to go get his brothers.

"_What is going on here?_ " I heard Mom say sternly. She looked at me and said, " _Titans bite darling, not humans_." With her words I allowed my jaw to loosen.

"_His friend's little brother took an idol from the lake__._" I blurted before Ogma could say anything.

"_Did he now?_" Mom said in that semi-calm voice that you knew was the clam before the storm.

"_Did try using words instead of fists?_ " Ogma inquired with an angry tone in his voice.

"_He simply ran and called me a heretic._" I replied.

Mom turned to Ogma, "_tell your friend, his brothers are not allowed in Finna if they are not going to respect our traditions or religion. If Druid Finn saw this little fiasco he would be furious._" Ogma's friend returned holding his brothers' hands. He turned to the taller one.

"Zackary " he said sternly. Zackary pulled the idol out from his pocket and gave it to me.

"Sorry for taking your stupid thingy." He said disgustedly. Having got what I came for, I deiced to ignore his calling of an idol a 'stupid thingy' and walked away to put it back but, Mom stopped me.

"Are we forgetting something? They are trying to make peace." She said in a calm tone.

"But I did nothing wrong!" I protested. Mom gave me a glare and I turned to face Zackary.

"Sorry for punching you in your stupid face." I replied disgruntled. Zackary did not take this well and we instantly got into a scrap.

After we were pulled apart Ogma went with his friend to take his brothers home and go to the training core. Mom asked if he wanted us to see him off but he refused the offer and decided to lecture me on mundane things like making sure to brush my teeth and to not bring wild animals home. I decided to let him blabber about this stuff and just look away and nod.

Mom smiled slightly and said with a tint of sadness, "_Dagda would be very proud of you right now_". Ogma stopped dead in his tracks.

"_I do not want to hear that from you." _He said with an angry snarl. I was about to say some angry words to him but Mom turned me around and told me we should get Mrs. Moo Moo. I just realized I left Mrs. Moo Moo all alone. What kind of friend was I? Mom threw the idol back into the lake as I went to apologize to Mrs. Moo Moo. Mrs. Moo Moo was so forgiving. I had to take her home. Mrs. Moo Moo was not much for adventure so she was probably tuckered out. After we had returned Mrs. Moo Moo to her stable, we went by the smithery to pick up Mom's spurs. Taranis was working the counter and stroking his beard. He looked at me and stopped stroking his long red beard.

"_Did we get into a fight_?" he asked, noticing the bruises forming on my face. I looked down at the ground.

"_Yeah_" I replied.

"_Did you win_?" Taranis asked.

I looked up excitedly and said "_Hell Yeah_!"

As he gave me a high five, he said "_That a girl!_". Lugh came out of the smithing area with his smiting apron and kilt still on. He was blond like his father. Both Taranis and Lugh had the same burly body of their father but only Lugh had his blond hair. Taranis had his mother's red hair.

"_How is our little ember? Morgan I assume you're here to pick up your spurs and reign. We are supposed to be leaving for the expedition at seven in the morning, right?"_ Lugh questioned, handing Mom her spurs and reigns with his right hand that had a dara knot tattooed on to it.

I hugged Taranis's leg "_Be safe you two, ok?_" It was always scary seeing them and Mom leave for an expedition. I know the twins were eleven years older then me and Mom said that they were very strong but I still worried about them. I wanted to be helpful. I wanted to do more then just taking care of the animals and putting flowers in the soldiers' rooms. Druid Finn said that I was good at my studies of healing but my knowledge was not enough for it to be helpful yet. Taranis put his big left had with a dara knot on top of my head.

"_Don't worry, we'll be fine__._" I had heard that before from other soldiers and then they came back dead. I wanted to do something to help ensure that they would come back home alive. Then I got an idea. The adults would more then likely turn it down because of my age but I knew I would be able to be helpful in this way.

"_Ok, let's stop frowning_" Lugh said as he blew air on to my arm. It tickled and I started laughing. Taranis started to tickle underneath my arms. My mother and I were about to leave the twins father, Goibhniu stepped out of the smithing area.

"_Morgan before you leave I am making a torc for Margawse for our wedding anniversary and I need a woman's thoughts on it."_ He said as he passed my mother a sketch. My mother gave a small smile and said it was beautiful. Mom had such an awesome friendship with Goighniu and Margawse. It must be cool to have friend your age.

I thought we were going home but to my surprise as soon we got home mom donned her 3D- maneuvering gear. She slipped me into the back part and said with a smile, "_I want to show you my favorite part of the forest, it is easier to get there by maneuvering gear__._". As soon as we got outside the village, mom wired us to the closest tree. I could not contain my joy; I let out a yahoo. This is what it must feel like to be a flacon. Mom flew with the grace and precision of a bird of prey. I hoped when I grew up, I would be just like my mother: strong, skilled, beautiful, kind, respected, and fighting to end this war with the titans. Mom took me to a beautiful lake in the forest that was illuminated by the setting sun. There were two big stones right next to each other near the lake. After we landed Mom put a small rock on each stone as I ran around the clearing. There were so many trees that I would be able to climb and a lake I could swim in. I loved this place. We decided to bath in the lake. I was swimming while Mom stayed stationary under the willow at the side of the lake .I swam past Mom and she grabbed me to hug me. I stopped swimming and hugged her back.

"_This is my favorite part of the forest. I used to play here when I was your age. I am so glad I can show it to you. I am so glad I got to raise you in Finna._" Mom said as she put my head on her breast.

"Y_ou really love this forest don't you Mom_" I asked hugging her back.

"_Yes I do. The forest is so beautiful and it brings back so many good memories._" She answered.

I could feel myself starting to get tired as was the moon was rising. We put our clothes back on and headed back to the village. As we were walking home, a women with beautiful dark brown hair put up in a ponytail and dark brown eyes stopped us to talk to Mom. She was wearing goggles and seemed really excited about something.

"Morgan I would like to discuss the finer points of our plan to capture a-." she stopped talking as she noticed me. "Who is this?" she asked.

My mother said, "This is the child of the Fey family*."

The lady looked confused. "Is that not your family name?" She asked, and Mom nodded. "Oh, is she your daughter? What is her first name?" The lady continued to inquire.

"I can not answer either of those questions. I will explain later." Mom replied. The lady looked extremely confused but seemed content with the promise of the answers to her questions would come later. As a child, I had done nothing of merit thus I was merely a member of the Fey family, but once I was an adult and I could do something of merit I could use my name in public. I did not see why it needed explanation.

She got down to my eye level. " Hello I am Hange Zoe. Pleased to meet you." I remembered the rule of thumb with strangers, wings of freedom were good strangers and the ones that wore a unicorn jacket or a gold necklace with three woman's' faces on it were bad. This woman was wearing none of them, just a dull yellow button down shirt and brown pants. I looked at Mom to see what she thought of the stranger. Mom nodded in approval and I shook her hand.

"I need to get her home. I will see you after I put her to bed." Mom said to Hange as she picked me up. Mom walked home and Hange waved good-bye to us and I waved back.

Mom tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead " _Behave for Druid Finn while I am gone. I love you. Watch my garden while I am gone. I will see you in month ". _

"_I love you too Mom. Come back home_." I said as I let myself drift into sleep. I woke up before the sun rose. I donned my green tunic riding pants and my riding boots even though the boots still had some mud on them. Today I would be useful towards this war.

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Authors Notes:

So, at the end of each chapter, a few fun fact about the Celts will be given. More to explain the events of the story and certain scenes that might confuse you.

_Druids are extremely important in Celtic society. On top of being judges, healers, priests, and teachers for their respective villages they are also in charge of keeping the knowledge of the past present and future and guardians of Celtic traditions. To become a druid one must leave their home at the age of 9 and go to a forest for 20 years where along with other potential druids will learn, about the occult rituals, Celtic religion, legends, the gods, use of all weapons, healing, basic science, astronomy, legal matters, pre-wall history, warrior morals, divination, sorcery, advanced military tactics, political science, and Celtic traditions. All of this is passed down orally so all of this must be committed to memory. Most druids specialize in one of these thing but all know who do all of these skills proficiently. It is sort of similar to major and general requirements in modern day colleges. Being a druid is considered one of if not the highest honor in Celtic society. Even if war breaks out, one must never raise a weapon to a druid. It is considered the highest crime in the Celtic society to kill a druid, even more then rape or abandonment of duty/post, the second highest crimes._

_The Celts were an extremely proud group of people. A parent wasn't supposed to acknowledge their child in public until they were recognized in their village as a warrior. To be recognized as a warrior, they needed to complete training, which usually lasts from the ages of 6 to the age of 12, where the child is supposed to master a weapon. Therefore, in public the child is simply referred to by their family name (i.e. The child of the _ family...)_

Most importantly, if you have any questions about the actions of any of the Celts, don't hesitate to ask, in either a PM or a review and we'll respond in the next chapter (before the chapter begins) or in a PM.

Thanks for reading this far! Hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Actions of the Fool-Hearted

_The only time in the wall that war was ever close to breaking out was in 777 when the druids tried to pass on their knowledge of the walls building and origin to the generation of people who were born inside the wall. The druids were killed and so was any Celt that could have had the possibility of having the knowledge of the walls building. Centuries of knowledge were lost forever. After all Celts pulled out of the King's military, took over a decent portion of the King's territory and were ready to lay siege to the king's palace. To avoid war, a cease-fire was negotiated. Part of this included: that druids would be exempt for any sort of military draft; Celts cannot join the military police, Celts would live separately from Non-Celts; Intermarriage between Celts and Non-Celts was illegal, Celtic villages were considered sovereign nations, they could make their own laws but still had to pay taxes to the King to use walls Maria and Rose; neither Celt or military police could enter the others' territory armed; The Celts would not get help from the king if famine, plague or titans hit their villages nor the king from the Celts if the same hit his people; Worship of pagan gods especially those who required human sacrifice would be illegal (only __animism would be __ legal.); and writing down of druidic knowledge in the common language would be illegal; Celts are not allowed in the interior unless there for military business; Druids are not allowed in non- Celtic Villages. If a Celtic bounty hunter took care of a bandit strong hold all thing that counted as supplies (weapons, food, water, etc.) would go to their village, luxuries and money was negotiable, the Celts could keep the territory they captured if they promised to not make any attempt to expand again. The Celts happily accepted most of the treaty having lost trust in those who did not share their culture. The Celts refer to this as the druid's war. The monarchy refers to it as forest skirmishes._

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Chapter 2: Actions of the Fool-Hearted

Bridget 842:

After getting dressed in my riding pants and boots, I grabbed Ogma's notes on giants and shoved them into one of Mom's old backpacks that she no longer used. Luckily for me, Mom was a heavy sleeper and a late riser, so I knew I had a good amount of time before she got up. I crept into the kitchen and packed some rations into a backpack. That was the easy part. Now came the hard part.

I slowly opened the door to Mom's room. I decided the best course of action was to crawl over to the chest in Mom's room. Slowly and carefully I opened the chest. I looked at Mom to see if she had stirred. She was fast asleep and turned away from me. I grabbed the javelins and javelin belt and crept out of her room, slowly and quietly. I softly shut the door behind me. I crept out of the house before donning them. It wouldn't be unusual for me not be around when Mom woke up, so she would not think anything was amiss. The supply carts were loaded up the night before so no one would see me go inside one. The question was in which one to hide. Mike's nose was a big problem. He could smell me easily so I needed to hide in something that would mask my scent from him. The thought of using perfume came to mind but the problems with that would be too great. For one, what would be a scent that hides me instead of making me stick out? And second, where would I get some? No one I knew wore anything that sound like that.

After about ten minutes of searching I found the cart with food in it. There were large sacks of dried fruit. I guessed these were fragrant enough to hide my scent from Mike. I pushed myself in between the sacks and arranged them in a way I could not be seen by the driver or someone walking by the cart. To put the finishing touch I put the tarp back over them. I took out a piece of barley bread and started eating it. I was really starting to wish I brought some bilberry jam.

Now came the hardest part of my plan.

Sitting still long enough for them not to notice me.

As far as I had gathered, Titans were just giants without sexual organs and who were mute. Giants were simply huge humans; therefore a javelin to the heart should kill them. I decided to see how people had slain giants before. I pulled out Ogma's notes on the giant legends. If anything could be said about Ogma is he was organized and luckily in Gallic. I realized that we had started to move. I tried to move into a position that would not move the sacks but still give me good lighting for reading. I don't know how long I spent trying to solve this problem. It suddenly felt slightly warmer and suddenly it was much easier to read.

At first I was happy but this feeling was quickly replaced with fright when I realized this meant that the tarp must have been removed. I turned around to see a 1-meter titan staring down at me. Its menacing glare was piercing into my soul. I tried to crawl away but the titan quickly picked me up. I kicked it as hard as I could but all this did was make it angrier. It held me over the edge of the cart.

"Morgan, why is it that whenever I see this kid, she get me dirty?"

Taranis giggled and turned to Lugh. "Hear that? She gets Levi dirty, Lugh."

Lugh snickered and said in a joking tone "I don't know Levi. I always took you for the little boy type."

The titan they called Levi refused to put me down. I had seen the titan around the village recently. Mom claimed he was human but someone never spoke and was that terrify could not be human. Levi turned to them still maintaining his evil glare. "This is not funny you two. What if we did not discover her until we left the walls? "

I was about to tell them how I could have been useful until I saw Mom. Her glare was scarier than the titan's. Before I fully understood what was going on I was on the ground and there was a sharp pain on the left side of my face. The javelins I had brought had scattered everywhere. Mom picked one up one and with the blunt end stabbed me with it in the upper right part of my back. She pulled my hair to where the back of my head was touching my back.

"_You stupid child. You have not even mastered fighting humans, what made think you could possibility even scratch a titan?_" She said as she pulled my hair.

I replied honestly. "_The king's trainees only train for 3 years before they are considered strong enough to fight titans I have been training for just as long. I can be useful. _"* This only seemed to make Mom angrier and she pulled my hair harder. "_I just wanted to be useful_."

The lady called Hange picked me up. "She is just a child. Don't you think you are being a bit harsh?" She asked Mom.

"I understand what you are trying to do but, do not get in the raven queens way. She will mess you up." Taranis said to Hange.

"Do you think the Titans would have cared that she is just a child?" Mom replied. Hange put me down and knelt down to my eye level. "Your attempt to help is appreciated" Hange said picking up a javelin and looking at it she handed it back to me "but only the 3-D gear work against titans these would have not hurt them at all."

Mom interrupted her. "If you were to come on an expedition at your current strength you would be nothing but a burden. You're not strong enough to be helpful yet. I will tell you when you are strong enough. I do not want to see you do this ever again. Do I make myself clear?" Mom's angry glare was piercing and crushing at the same time.

I could feel myself starting to cry. _How shameful_, I thought to myself. "I won't. I just wanted to be useful." Hange asked me if I could read common. I nodded yes. "A little bit." Druid Finn focused more on me memorizing what I heard. He considered looking something up as cheating, so he did not focus on it a lot especially something in another language.

"There is an archive in the recon base. Could you take notes on the books you can read for me?" She asked with a kind smile. I nodded yes. "Alright we need to have someone take her home." Mom started to look around. Her face looked very annoyed. I heard a horse galloping at full speed.

It was Margwase. "Thank goodness you guys didn't get too far! We think-!"

"We found the little stow away already. Can you take her home? She has slowed us down enough for today." The titan called Levi said, interrupting Margwese.

Margwase smacked me on the head. "And I thought when Lugh and Taranis tried to get together an army of wild dogs was dangerously stupid but this takes the prize. What were you thinking?"

"Mom!" Lugh and Taranis blushed and shouted in unison. Like that, we parted ways. Once I got back to the village I got a lecture from every single adult in the village but the one I worried about the most was Druid Finn's. I knew I had to face him eventually so I might as well get it over with. I mean Mom was already disappointed in me and upset with me, not to mention I did the shameful act of crying in public so it could not get much worse.

I slowly opened to door to Druid Finn's study. I peeked in to the study. I held my body close to the door. He was an old man. His silver hair was slicked back. He wore a brown robe with intricate blue embroidery on the bottom and the wide sleeves. He always carried around an oak staff with a dog carved on the head that he used as a walking stick. He was looking at a parchment without turning from his parchment he instructed me to sit on the stool facing him. The walls were covered with different kinds of weapons, pictures of different kinds of fortresses, armors, helmets, war horns and different magical charms for protection and strength. I sat down with my hands in my lap. "_What was going through your head when you were trying to go on that expedition child? What were you hoping to accomplish?_"Druid Finn said as started to face me. His voice was stern and carried a hint of frustration and anger.

"_I want to be useful towards this war and make a higher chance of Mom, Lugh, Taranis, and Mike coming home. I know if we allow the titan siege to continue humanity will eventual run out of supply and will not be able to replenish vital resources and be eliminated as a species. I mean that is the point of a siege right? If you cannot break the enemies' defenses you make sure that they cannot resupply and they either surrender or die in their own fortress. I want to make sure humans are not forced to kill each other for resources. I don't want the choice of a friend's life or a stranger's life to be a common occurrence._" I started to tear up, but quickly rubbed them away. They came back. _"I just want to help them end this siege and stop the impending doom that humanity is facing. I want to be their ally; a strong ally. I want this war to end and stop seeing the people I love die. I want to be useful. I want them to come home._" I could not hold it in any more I started to cry. Druid Finn put his hand on my head.

"_Right now you are not strong enough or knowledgeable enough to be useful towards the war effort, but you at least have the will to fight. Many people do not have that. There are three types of people who need to be protected: the civilian, who has neither the will nor the strength to fight. The coward, who has the strength to fight but, not the will and the fool hearted, those who have the will but not the strength. Luckily for you all you need is the strength and you have me to help you with that. You are a very bright little girl and have a lot of potential. You just need to work hard to see that potential reached. Do you understand?" _I nodded my head while sobbing. "_You won't try this again. We will say when you are ready. I now you think what your mother did was harsh but she did it because she loves you. Do you understand?_" Druid Finn asked. I nodded again. "_Your weapon and basic military tactics lesson will start in four hours I expected you at the tree ready and prepared by then._" He said as he turned back to his work.

I rubbed my eyes more, and then suddenly remembered what the nice lady Hange asked me to do. "_Do you have a key to the recon corps archive_?"

He turned to me angrily, "_Bridget, what did we just-_".

I interrupted him even though I know I wasn't supposed to. "_A nice lady asked me to take notes on some books there for her._"

Druid Finn had a look on his face as though a revelation had just come to him. "_Fire when left to its own devices is dangerous and uncontrollable but give it a task and then…"_ he said while putting his thumb in his mouth. He did that whenever he was thinking hard about something. "_Bridget, remember when I said that if you were diligent you could master the spear in a year?" _He asked.

"_Yes._" I replied nervously.

"_I am going to have you master it in six months._" For reasons unknown to me, my training and lessons got more intense and longer from then on. I liked that, but I also had more chores.

* * *

_The Celts, not being the best of merchants are usual easily tricked by outsider merchants into paying more for something or buying something useless. Most Celtic villages trade with each other using a mix of bartering and coins to get what they want. Primarily, villages in wall Maria have good raw material while the villages in wall Rose is known for its crafts-men. However, each are present in both walls. Most villages try to be as self-sufficient as possible and only taking as much as the Celtic community needs from mother earth._

_A hand and half sword can take anywhere from 5 -25 years of intense training to fully master. This weapon is much less complex then the 3-D maneuvering gear. For a warrior society where some children could start training as early the age of 5 and having it end at around 17, a three year training program for soldiers must seem anywhere from strange to down-right foolish. I can see the training time for the 3-D gear and ill-prepare soldiers a common criticism of the King's Military from the Celts. _


End file.
